Wisconsin Dells on a budget?

[DisneyLover83]

If you want to be really budget and save $$ on your hotel room I recommend staying at a hotel in Reedsburg, I have personally stayed at the Quality Inn and it is perfectly fine. It is about a 15 minute drive into the Dells. You can get a room at the Quality Inn for $90 compared to several hundred at a place like Wilderness or Great Wolf. I have also stayed at Great Wolf, Chula Vista, Wilderness, and Kalahari and I did not find it worth the price due to the over crowding at the waterpark area in the peak summer season. Christmas Mountain is also a good deal and if you can not find an owner to rent through you can try Blue Green Vacation Rentals to book directly with them.

 

[kkwis2]

We have been to the Dells twice in recent years but not in the summer. We have been in November and March.

The 1st time we stayed at Chula Vista. It was OK. Lovely room, water park was so so.

The 2nd time we rented a condo at Glacier Canyon Lodge (which is a part of the Wilderness). The condo was amazing - two bedrooms (one king and one bunk beds) plus a murphy bed in the living room, two baths, full kitchen and dining area. Three indoor water parks, several outdoor water parks. Amazing! We can't wait to go again. Sharing the expense of renting a condo with the other family might make things much more affordable.

Have a great time!

 

[hereforthesun]

There are quite a lot of places to stay if you consider what you would spend in food to eat out. There is Springbrook which has rentals with a full kitchen, they have a golf course and also a great pool area. They are off the beaten path but not far from everything at the same time.

 

[robinb]

About a 1/2 hour drive south of the dells is Devils Lake State park. This is a great place to hike and reminds me of a mini Lake Tahoe. Also since your kids are old enough to be on there own for a few hours, there is the Ho-Chunk (5 min south) casino which is a nice place to spend some adult time. For a great burger eat at Monks downtown (not the one by the Wilderness Lodge). Mt Olympus is the place to go as it is a water park (wave pool, slides, lazy river, etc...) theme park with over 7 roller coasters (one was rated in the top 10 wooden roller coasters in the country) and great go cart tracks all included in one price. Last year if you bought one day admitsion you got the next day free. Wisconsin Dells is the waterpark capital of the world so every hotel has a themed area. The big three (Wilderness, Kalahari, and Great Wolf Lodge) have multiple indoor and outdoor parks. However they charge a premium for this. Since you are going during July anyway I would stay at one of the smaller places and do Mt Olympus 1 and 1/2 days and then do Devils Lake 1/2 day then do "downtown" with the Ducks/upper dells boat tour the last day. There is so much to see in the dells that much like disney it takes some planning. Also like disney it can be quite expensive. The Dells.com website has an attraction book you can buy which cost about $80 per person but includes tickets to most of the most popular attractions. Send away for the free visitor guide, do some reserch and have fun.

I was going to suggest Devil's Lake too. The view from the top of the cliffs is really cool. Especially to Flat Landers ... I mean Illinoisans . I also agree that a Ducks/Upper Dells boat ride is a *must*. I disagree on Mt Olympus because they do not heat their water park water and it is FREEZING. I have not had that problem at Noah's Ark. Like going to Disney, it's imperative that you get to the waterparks early to avoid the crowds.

The OP's kids are older but if anyone with younger kids is looking for a deal, Culver's restaurant gives away special discount cards starting in May. We have saved a lot of money with those cards in the past.

PS: You might also want to keep an eye out on Madison's Craigslist. I know I have seen condo rentals and waterpark passes on it in the past.

 

[budafam]

We just bought a vacation off of Ebay for the Wilderness cabins... we got a 3 bedroom cabin for $450 for 2 nights and it includes passes... we have 10 people going so this is a great deal. I've never been so this will be our first time but we had to cancel on Disney World this year and this will be our only getaway

 

[mgroshans]

bump

 

[Hannathy]

Just be aware that the Dells are expensive!! Everything is very high from rooms to food and the traffic is horrific (and this is from a former east coaster) It can take you 45 minutes to go 3 miles during peak times.

If you are going in the summer there are usually minimum stays also at places.

It definitely costs us more to go there than Disney!!! -other than transportation.